Pathways to Justice and Peace

How do you respond to violence and injustice in your society? As a Christian, does faith shape your thinking and spur you to action?

These are foundational questions in an IFES Logos and Cosmos Initiative (LCI) project initiated by Dr Sandra Márquez Olvera. The project collaborates with national movements in Latin America, equipping students to biblically reflect on their views and grow as peacebuilders through grassroots activity.

Facing Insecurity

Sandra’s project started in 2022 as her pragmatic response to the prevalence of injustice in Mexico. She notes:

“In many Latin American countries, especially in urban areas, citizens live with a permanent feeling of insecurity. Crime, corruption, and gender-based violence are daily realities. And Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’ has meant thousands have been subject to ‘enforced disappearance’.”

Her project facilitates practical initiatives that serve communities experiencing such issues.

In 2023, students and LCI Catalysts Areli Cortez and Remy Ocón joined Sandra’s project. They now partner with IFES movements in Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Colombia – some of Latin America’s lowest ranking countries on the Global Peace Index.

Promoting Justice

Last year, one practical service initiative in Mexico offered support to a collective of families whose relatives had forcibly disappeared. Since most of the collective’s physical and emotional energy is used to search for loved ones, a group from Compa spent four days helping them improve their office space.

Fifteen students, two graduates, and three staff workers cleared weeds, created a garden, and painted walls. In the process, they got to know these victims of injustice and hear their stories. Later, they shared Christmas food together and helped place photos with information about the missing persons on a memorial in the city square.

Believing in Peace

With the latest phase of the LCI project now underway, Sandra, Areli, and Remy are facilitating online ‘Reflection Spaces’ for 16 participants from the four national movements. Their Perspectives for Peacebuilding course is introducing the cohort to the theology of justice and peace in the context of Latin America’s social situation. This ‘holistic mission’ framework enables participants to see service and peacemaking as part of Jesus’ call to be salt and light.

Areli Canul, a COMPA Mexico graduate participant, is looking forward to turning her reflection into action:

“I really hope to be able to walk just a little bit of the path they’ve shared with us – to continue the legacy and serve the Lord, showing that the Scriptures call us not to be passive and indifferent to suffering and injustice”.

New Pathways Ahead

Community action initiatives will again partner with civil society organizations. The first initiative is set to start in Mexico in the second week of December, with others in Ecuador, Colombia, and El Salvador to follow in January.

Throughout, the three women will interview key actors and log student responses so that they can document each country’s approach to Christian social responsibility. Their findings will be written up as an academic article and inform an action plan for the four student movements.

It’s hoped that this LCI project will help embed peace and justice initiatives into regular ministry – shaping thought and spurring action.

Pray

Give thanks for the theological reflection and action facilitated by Sandra, Areli, and Remy in COMPA Mexico, MUC El Salvador, CECE Ecuador, and UCU Colombia. Praise God that students have grown in faith and that communities have been touched.

Pray for the movements as they finalise plans for their practical initiatives – for grace and favour with the partner organisations and the communities they’ll serve.

Pray that a practical concern for peace and justice will be integral to Christian witness in these movements and in all IFES movements.

See Sandra speak about her passion for connecting the Word with the world in this LCI video.

Perspectives on Justice and Peace from Latin America, a booklet that was distributed at Sandra’s 2023 World Assembly seminar on this topic, is available online in Spanish and in Portuguese.